State 5A boys basketball tournament: Gritty, but not quite enough

NAMPA - The Lake City Timberwolves did just about everything they could in an attempt to pull off a stunner of top-ranked Capital of Boise in the semifinals of the state 5A boys basketball tournament Friday night.

They played a zone, in an attempt to neutralize the athletic, speedy Eagles, and for the most part handled it when Capital full-court pressed.

They got a career effort from a senior not normally among their scoring leaders, as well as some spirited play off their bench.

They kept the game close for nearly three quarters, increasing the likelihood of a surprise at the end.

But Capital is undefeated for a reason, and ultimately, a 16-1 run late in the third quarter and early in the fourth gave the Eagles the cushion they needed, enough to fend off a valiant Lake City comeback as the Timberwolves fell 66-58 at the Ford Idaho Center.

"We just busted our butts," Lake City coach Jim Winger said. "Basketball-wise, they're obviously really good. But athlete-wise, they are just off the charts. And deep as I've seen in quite a while. I thought if we could get it into the fourth quarter and have them on the ropes we'd have a shot, because them being undefeated, I thought they might tighten up. We just had a couple of those 10-, 15-seconds spells where they just got to us - we'd turn it over and they'd get a little spurt. They're just so athletic, you can't get over the hump with them, and you just have to dang near play perfect to get 'em."

No one epitomized Lake City's grit on this night more than Jake Vetsch. The 6-foot senior wing scored a game-high 24 points, but just as important, created just as much havoc on defense as he was on offense, constantly picking himself up off the floor in the rugged game as he and his teammates continued to battle the Eagles to the very end.

He also had six rebounds, four steals and three assists.

"It was a tough one to lose," a teary-eyed Vetsch said after emerging from the locker room. "Everybody battled. We've got eight seniors and we wanted to go to the state title game. There's only so much you can do, and we battled to the end."

Winger noticed.

"What do you say about Jake Vetsch," Winger said. "When you come down here, some kids really rise to the top, and he sure did. What a game he had. He really came to play, and was our leader the whole way through this game."

Lake City (18-6) will play Rocky Mountain (18-7) of Meridian in the third-place game today at 11 a.m. PST at Columbia High in Nampa. Two-time defending champion Borah of Boise beat Rocky 57-43 in the other semifinal. Borah (18-7) and Capital (25-0) will meet in the state title game tonight at 7 at the Idaho Center.

Capital, trying for its first state title since 1978, was led by its two quick-handed 6-foot-1 junior guards, Keegan Hansen with 18 points and Derrick White with 17. White also had five steals and four assists, and Hansen had six rebounds.

Winger opted for a zone because Lake City had been real active playing it - particularly in the second half of Thursday's first-round comeback victory over Skyline of Idaho Falls. Plus, Capital hasn't faced zone much this season.

"We tried to spread it out, and work it on offense, and then on defense slow 'em down and not let them run their man sets and not have their athletes doing anything they wanted to do the whole game," Winger said. "And I thought it was pretty successful."

Fourth-year Capital coach Paul Rush said his team faced a zone just twice during the regular season, but practiced against it leading up to state, just in case.

"I felt like we were ready for it tonight," Rush said. "It was different from what we were going up against in practice, but our guys know where to go, and from there, you just let 'em play. When they're in spots, those kids are tough; they just do their thing."

JJ Winger hit 4 of 5 3-pointers and added 12 points for Lake City, playing in its first state semifinal since 2002.

Lake City spotted Capital a 5-0 lead early, but answered quickly. The T-Wolves took a 10-6 lead on Chuckie Adams' 3-pointer.

Kyle Guice, Lake City's leading scorer, picked up two quick fouls and sat the final 13 minutes, 38 seconds of the half. He finished with three points - all free throws - and fouled out with 1:44 remaining.

But senior Jacob Dahl came in off the bench and sparked the Timberwolves for the second straight day. In the closing seconds of the first quarter, he stole a pass, dribbled into the front court and canned a 3-pointer from the right wing as the buzzer sounded. Dahl fell to the floor, and pounded his chest in celebration.

Junior Quinn Mitchell came off the bench and scored two inside baskets early in the second quarter for a 17-14 Lake City lead. Capital came back to take a 27-24 lead at halftime, but the T-Wolves were still in good shape.

Vetsch scored 11 of his points in the third quarter, including a pull-up jumper from the left baseline that tied the game with 37 with 3:12 left in the quarter.

Then came Capital's spurt.

Conner Poulson started it with a 3-pointer - his only basket of the game. Hodges Bailey then stole the ball and went coast to coast, and the Eagles led 42-37 after three.

Hansen hit a 3 early in the fourth quarter to make it 45-37. Guice sank a free throw, but Capital then scored the next eight points - White on a 3-point play, Hunter Young on a 3-point basket - his only points of the game. White stole the ball and soared in for the dunk - it wasn't a clean one, it rattled off the rim and the backboard, but it counted two points just the same.

Timeout, Lake City, down 53-38 with 3:37 left.

"I don't know if you can get four quarters without them doing that to you," Winger said of Capital's run. "Maybe you can, but I suppose that's why they're undefeated. You can't afford to have any lull, and we had one lull that really hurt us, and we just couldn't climb back up the hill."

"They're really athletic," Vetsch said. "They full-court pressure you the whole time, make you work for everything."

But it wasn't quite over. Lake City played the foul game, slowly inching closer. Two free throws by Vetsch pulled the Timberwolves within 63-57 with 38.7 seconds left. Each team hit a free throw, and Lake City got the ball out of bounds off its miss, down six with 24.7 seconds left.

But Capital's Nicholas Dow forced a turnover with 16.3 seconds left, and Hansen iced it with two free throws with 15.2 seconds remaining.

"Regardless of the scoreboard, we felt we were winning the game," Rush said. "We kept telling the guys, 'you're doing the right things, you're taking the right shots - it's going to start falling in our favor.' When it was tight, we were really pressuring them, and we always feel our pressure pays off for us late, and it did."

Adams finished with seven points, and point guard Justin Pratt had six assists for Lake City.

Despite the loss, Winger said he wasn't disappointed at all.

"I thought we had 'em," he said. "I thought we spread 'em out and did some good things. We handled their press, and their run-and-jump. Just ... too bad. We made a heck of a run at 'em, but there's nothing to hang your heads for, that's for sure, and we battled all the way to the wire."

Capital 10 17 15 24 - 66

Lake City 13 11 13 21 - 58

CAPITAL - Hansen 18, Pinkney 4, White 17, Dittman 2, Littlejohn 6, Dow 2, H. Bailey 7, B. Bailey 0, Poulson 3, Young 3, Rudan 4. Totals 21-45 17-23 66.

LAKE CITY - Adams 7, Pratt 2, Louie-McGee 0, Vetsch 24, Guice 3, Dahl 6, Winger 12, Mitchell 4. Totals 18-44 13-16 58.